Rhum J.M. Vieux Agricole VSOP

VSOP lacks any age statement I could find on the bottle. Website says that it’s aged 3 years, then rested for an additional year in a combination of different barrels and is then blended before being bottled. Feels more concentrated and has a lot more depth and richness compared to the VO. It’s a progression of what I found moving from the Gold to the VO, but only seems to have added layers of complexity woven in. Very nice sipping rum, here. But I wouldn’t be above a Ti’ Punch here, either!

Stupendous expression of Rhum Agricole. Will make a delicious Mai Tai. Very citrusy, bright, slightly grassy

Encore beaucoup d'élégance dans cette cuvée même si pour moi le VO offre un meilleur RQP. Belle rondeur et élégance avec des tanins fluides. Délicatement parfumé et équilibré

Nose: Maple syrup, caramelized sugars, baked banana, orange liqueur. There’s an aroma of old, old oak cask similar to that which I find on some armagnac. Roasted coffee beans, rye spices (fennel, eucalyptus), toffee and even a touch of gentian. Deep within the foundation aromas there is an herbal grassiness typical of all rhums agricole, but here it is well hidden behind some excellent barrel aromas. At first glance you could easily mistake this for a rye or a rye-heavy bourbon. Palate: Sweet and herbal in the arrival. Spicy notes again typical of rye or some bourbon, but then it changes. The development sees the agricole heart assert itself – cinnamon, clove, ginger, caraway and aniseed before the sage and bitter herbal notes surface. Green cane stalks can be visualised, swaying on the periphery. The texture is full but not cloying - quite dry but not at all tannic but with an herbal astringency. Finish: Long. Oaky, spicy and just a little briny. Your first smell of this can easily fool you into thinking it is a slightly unusual bourbon, but the more you get into it the more you think it is rye, and then finally not a whiskey at all. The palate is an even faster transition through the same impressions, starting with familiar whiskey notes but very rapidly moving into dry, spicy rum territory. There is a faint smoky quality to the profile but I had this rum previously, some years ago, and it was a lot more prominent then. This current batch, while less smoky, has more barrel tannin. I like this a lot, but then I particularly dislike cloying, sweet rum and this is the very antithesis of that. It’s not quite as interesting as aged high-ester Jamaican or Trinidad rums and it's not as elegantly balanced as anything coming out of Foursquare. However it has a fine, dry and spicy aged agricole character. Just be warned that if you are new to agricole rum and your taste runs more to the sweet profile of Appleton, or something balanced like Foursquare, or the very syrupy sweetness of Diplomatico or Zacapa then you will probably not enjoy this at all. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)